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Bringing new insights to the construction industry through the philosophy of expertise

Summary of the impact

Professor Mark Addis of the School of English undertook pioneering collaborative interdisciplinary work with David Boyd (Professor of Construction at Birmingham City University) to engage with an area of business where the humanities are not usually valued. The philosophy of expertise assisted three major construction companies, Mouchel, Rider Levett Bucknall and Thomas Vale Construction, to better understand their practices. These new perspectives into construction management challenged existing practices and stimulated practitioner debate in the industry. The impacts were for individuals, who made more effective interventions in their practice especially in terms of skill development and project organisation; company groups, who gained insights which developed their practice; and the wider industry through presentations to leading national construction representative organisations.

Submitting Institution

Birmingham City University

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Building
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Business and Management

Procuring Social and Economic Value through Construction

Summary of the impact

Procuring Social and Economic Value through Construction is focused on improving the sustainability and profitability of, and ensuring public benefit from, the UK construction sector, demonstrating the following impact:

  • Guiding progress towards sustainable construction practice, generating wider social and economic benefit, through better informed construction procurement;
  • Improving the performance of existing construction projects and businesses;
  • Commercialising new products and support services to construction clients and suppliers;
  • Informing public policy through a range of impacts — most recently the Government Construction Strategy and Infrastructure Cost Review and Implementation.

Submitting Institution

University of Salford

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Building
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Business and Management

Integrated and Collaborative Approach to Lifecycle Management in the Built Environment

Summary of the impact

Building Information Modelling and Management (BIM(M)) research at the University of Salford has contributed to the concept and development of an integrated approach to improved efficiency in the construction sector:

  • Adopted in 2011 by the UK Government through its Building Information Modelling and Management (BIM (M)) Strategy, Salford research in BIM(M) has supported the development of this strategy, through demonstrating the approach and its benefits through several live projects and UK/EU government funded research projects, including:
    • Establishing the concept of `nD modelling';
    • Developing and demonstrating the concept of integrated multi-user distributed construction project databases, developing the virtual workspace for collaborative working;
    • Developing process improvement protocol/frameworks;
    • Supporting the development of the international standardisation for the representation and exchange of building information.

Submitting Institution

University of Salford

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, Computer Software, Information Systems

Research informs new British Standard for construction procurement, benefitting industry and clients

Summary of the impact

The innovative construction procurement framework developed from research conducted at the University of Reading between 2001 and 2012, has been adopted by industry in the UK and overseas and has informed the development of a new British Standard for construction procurement. Working closely with a range of industry participants, the School of Construction Management and Engineering developed a new understanding of the costs of construction tendering and procurement. By focusing the enquiry on finance, project cash flow and the relationships between markets and business models, the research departed from previous analyses of tendering and procurement that have tended to rely on anecdote and generally accepted practice. The results led to the development of a new framework that sets procurement within a business context and explains how unnecessary tendering and procurement costs can be avoided.

Submitting Institution

University of Reading

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Building
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Business and Management

Multi-constraint and multi-dimensional visual coordination approaches and tools and their applications in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry through industrial collaborations

Summary of the impact

Research at Teesside University has enhanced sustainability and productivity in construction and related sectors. Between 1998 and 2008, Professor Dawood's research team developed a range of advanced multi-constraint and multi-dimensional visual construction planning and coordination approaches and tools. The global commercial application of this work in Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) organisations has generated a substantial economic impact. For five indicative organisations used as examples in this case study, the impact amounts to more than £1,500,000 in the form of increased turnover, cash injection from technology funds and a spin out company.

Submitting Institution

Teesside University

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Engineering: Civil Engineering

Reducing construction accidents: saving lives.

Summary of the impact

The researchers have delivered 10 funded studies (£700,000), 50+ peer-reviewed publications and five knowledge transfer conferences (750+ delegates). The samples presented led to materials being delivered to 100,000+ industry practitioners. Further, the international reach of UK OSH guidance is substantial, influencing Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, and North America. The research helped improve Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) practices in major construction companies, with global reach, e.g. MACE (3,700 employees, over 69 countries, turnover £1bn), who implemented developed practices, resulting in 30% drop in accident rates. Our 'OSH communication images' are used in CITB training, delivered to over 100,000 workers.

Submitting Institution

Glasgow Caledonian University

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Business and Management

Transforming the project-based firm: creating effective commercial and innovation capability

Summary of the impact

Development of the UK construction industry was hampered by a focus on individual projects, with two drawbacks: limited transfer of lessons learned from one project to the next, and limited focus on systemic innovation and wider commercial opportunities.

Drawing on their research, our Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group helped construction companies — including Laing O'Rourke (LOR), Arup, and Mace — overcome these obstacles by adopting a `systems integration' model to capture and utilise lessons learned, and by developing Executive Education programmes to make project engineers aware of wider commercial and innovation issues. These improvements enhanced delivery of major projects such as the Olympic Park and Crossrail.

The Group changed firm behaviour, re-orientated project management practices, and translated lessons learned into organisational capabilities at LOR, Arup, and Mace.

Beneficiaries were the UK construction and consulting engineering sector, who as a result were better equipped to innovate and compete globally, and their clients, such as the UK Olympic Delivery Authority and Crossrail.

Submitting Institution

Imperial College London

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, Information Systems
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Business and Management

Improving Workplaces Practices in ICT Exploitation and Health and Safety and Time Management

Summary of the impact

The types of impact highlighted in this case study are: improved effectiveness of workplace practices in relation to health and safety management, time management and collaborative working; development of resources to enhance professional practice; stimulation of practitioner debate on the impact of new legislation on criminal liability for poor management of health and safety; and improvement in turnover of SMEs through ICT adoption. The mechanisms by which the impact was achieved were KTPs, membership of relevant industry panels and organisation of relevant workshops, CPD events and similar events aimed at practitioners.

Submitting Institution

University of Wolverhampton

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Information Systems
Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Built Environment and Design: Building

The ConCA framework for understanding accident causation and preventing construction accidents

Summary of the impact

Loughborough University's Construction Accident Causality (ConCA) framework has:

  • Significantly contributed to the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) programme towards major improvements in construction health and safety over a 10-year period;
  • Influenced the direction of the Donaghy Inquiry into fatal accidents and its implementation;
  • Underpinned the framework for evaluating the underlying human and organisational factors for the Olympic Delivery Authority's exemplary health and safety record for London 2012.
  • Helped in the development by HSE of a new approach to construction-accident investigations;
  • Guided Toyota Australia in an investigation of a construction fatality; and,
  • Shaped the work of an HSE-industry-trades-union working party on dealing with the risk of catastrophic construction incidents.

Submitting Institution

Loughborough University

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Transforming the Built Environment through Building Information Management (BIM)

Summary of the impact

Building Information Management (BIM) involves the creation and use of digital information about built assets. Mandated by UK and other governments because of its potential to reduce waste and optimise efficiency, its successful exploitation requires changes in construction technology and process. This research has had a transformational impact on both. Our technical research forms the basis of the National Library of BIM objects, as well as technological solutions and product developments for many organisations. Our work with UK and overseas governments has shaped industry's uptake of BIM. We have founded a centre of excellence to introduce BIM to practitioners and organisations, and created a commercial joint-venture consultancy company.

Submitting Institution

Northumbria University Newcastle

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Information Systems
Built Environment and Design: Building
Economics: Applied Economics

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